Holidazed and Confused ...

Today I’m in Afghanistan “celebrating” my 33rd birthday. What’s funny is this isn’t even my first birthday at Bagram Airfield. Three years ago, I turned 30 here. The Army guys I was stationed with at the time bought some biscuits from the Popeye’s Chicken here and that was my cake. This year, we had pizza the night before as this year, like every few years, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day. So for me, today isn’t especially about my birthday, but rather, celebrating that a year ago today I asked Jennifer to marry me and she said yes. Believe me, I’m still just as shocked …

The day started early for me too. The aerial photographer on our team, Staff Sgt. Mike Keller, is flying in an F-15E Strike Eagle over Afghanistan today. It’s the first time something like this has been done over here, so it’s really cool that it’s our team involved. What’s also cool is that he’s flying with the 335th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., my first duty station. But Mike had to be at the squadron at four in the morning, so someone had to bring him. But it’s okay because he’s taking Yoshi up on the flight with him. Seriously, the next Mario Kart game needs to have a Strike Eagle as an unlockable vehicle. Missiles > turtle shells …

Driving back to the office, I saw someone running. Now, it’s great and all to want to stay in shape, but for cryin’ out loud, it was 4:30 in the morning, really windy and 25 degrees outside. Then I saw another runner. This one was wearing shorts. And that’s when it hit me. I don’t like *anything* enough to do it at 4:30 in the morning in 25 degree weather. I don’t even like cuddling with Jennifer that much. But then again, her feet are usually about 25 degrees …

And to be honest, I actually miss her cold feet. I miss the boys jumping on us as we try to sleep in on the weekends. I miss having to take the dog outside. And that was my second revelation for the morning. Even the less fun aspects of family life, it’s still my family life, and I really can’t wait to get back to it. So for my birthday, I don’t want candles; I’d rather light a fire in our fireplace. Because sooner or later, Jennifer will inevitably attack me with her freezing feet, and then I’ll know I’m home …

Feeling KRABby, thinking ahead ...

Kirkuk Regional Air Base, or KRAB, has to be one of the worst names for an installation ever. "Where ya headed?" "Oh, I've got KRAB." Or for the more insulting, K-RAB (rhymes with Ahab, as in the captain) and is used by the same type of folks who call our "A-Rab" hosts "Ragheads." Ah, tolerance, understanding and partnership. Then again, I was stationed at Seymour Johnson ...

Kirkuk is home to one of the places where Americans are training Iraqi pilots so *their* air force can protect *their* airspace and we can get the heck outta Dodge. We covered this mission at Camp Taji (thesergeantsbuzz.blogspot.com/2009/07/so-this-is-what-iraq-is-like.html) except with helicopters. Here they're flying Cessnas for intel gathering and some other stuff. Some people fly Cessnas for fun or even in races. In high school, my orthodontist took me up in his Cessna. Wonder if he knows he could be a pilot with the Iraqi air force if that making six figures a year in Southern California doesn't pan out ...

On the whole, Kirkuk is pretty nice. It's one of the places where we'll be drawing down troops sooner rather than later. Progress! It's a lot like Taji in that the mission and attitude is focued on getting Iraqi training programs up and running so we can leave and not come back. People here aren't burned out and bitter like in Baghdad. We aren't shelled daily like in Balad AKA "Mortar-itaville." Where's the salt ...

It's still really nice to have a break from the rigors of deployment, however, and we had a great visit from the USO this week. They brought a bunch of cartoonists on a tour through the Middle East and stopped by here. They were all really nice and went out of their way to talk to Airmen and Soldiers stationed here. It ended up being a fantastic experience for me for a few reasons. One, I got a really good story out of it (www.kirkuk.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123173934). Two, Rick Kirkman, who draws "Baby Blues" did some drawings for the family - Hammie with a lightsaber for Zachary and Hammie holding Yoshi for Edward; Darryl and Wanda for me and Jennifer ...

But I've also decided on what I'd like to do once I get out of the Air Force. I've long been a fan of the USO and what they do to support military members and their families. And on these tours, they bring photographers and entertainment directors to make sure everything is taken care of for the celebrities who come out to help us forget, if only for a little while, that we're in a war zone. So I think I want to be one of those guys. Working for the USO would have its own rewards and I'd still be doing the writing, photography, media and community relations kinds of things I enjoy in the Air Force. Of course, that's not for another 12 years or so. But it's nice to have an idea of what I want to do once I get promoted to the rank of civilian ...

Penny for your thoughts …

Like a bad penny, Bagram Airfield keeps falling in my path. I was first here in 2004 for about a week and was sitting in the passenger terminal when we found out about Pat Tillman’s death. I came back in 2006 to work for the Army’s 10th Mountain Division. Now I’m here again and much like our home base, it’s odd to see what’s changed and what’s the same. For crying out loud though, they still have the lame wooden shacks for people to live in. In the winter, there’s no drainage, so it floods between the buildings. Then when it freezes, the pools of water ice over. Seriously, you can literally skate from your room to the bathroom when you wake up at two in the morning to go to the bathroom. So it breaks up the monotony of walking at least …

But our team is here to work with the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs office. A good friend and colleague back in D.C., Capt. Dave Faggard, is in charge of the shop, so at least we’re in good company. I went to advanced contingency skills training with him and two of his Airmen before our deployment, so it’s kinda cool to see them again. He and I discuss our career field and its future alot, especially when it comes to the use of social media. He's the guru on it for the Air Force and we see eye to eye on a lot of what needs to be done on both the officer and enlisted side of things. Although the good captain and I have found a way to work out our differences …

Our first story was to cover the military working dogs here. Bagram is unique in that it’s the only base out here where Airmen provide all the perimeter security. Part of that is done by the dog handlers and their canine companions. The folks who work in K-9 units are typically really good folks and are a staple for community relations visits back home. Everyone loves seeing them and their dogs so when we do base tours, we always try to hit up the K-9 folks. They’re also a lot of fun to take pictures with. Except when the handler misses the dog coming out of the tunnel and 80 pounds of German shepherd fury comes barreling at you and your camera, only you don’t see it coming ‘cause you’re just trying to keep the image in focus so it comes as a total shock when the camera slams into your face and you’re on your butt just trying to figure out what the heck just happened. You know, for example …

The other cool story out here is the F-15E Strike Eagles. The squadron out here is one of the squadrons I used to cover back at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., so it’s awesome to see those guys again. I actually took pictures of one of the jets during a refueling mission last weekend, so was able to give the squadron a disc of photos, which they loved. They have a sign on their front door that says “The mission is the 18 year old with a rifle. All else is support” and they have a great attitude about providing cover for the guys on the ground. No fighter pilot ego at all; just straight talk about doing what they can to keep troops safe. Because usually, you know how you can tell if a fighter pilot is in a bar? He’ll tell you …

We have a few other missions that we want to cover while we’re at Bagram, so we’ll see how that works out. We’ll be here for a couple more weeks and hopefully cover the Afghan elections, which in a larger sense, is symbolic for why we’re here to begin with. If it works out, we’ll be headed out with the provincial reconstruction team. When I was here last, I did a lot of missions with those guys and it was one of the highlights of my last deployment. We’d go into villages and bring them food, supplies, medicine. I’d bring a bag of candy with me to hand out to kids. It still amazes me that they’d run through snow with no shoes on just to get a Jolly Rancher. Then again, so would my kids. Then again, so would I …

Speaking of the family, Jennifer and I are struggling through communication missteps. The Internet connection here is pretty spotty, so we don’t get to email or instant message each other very much, let alone send photos or anything else. It sometimes takes me ten minutes to open a single email. Other times it can be pretty decent, but it means getting up at 2 in the morning. That’s the one thing that makes deployments easier. We don’t need more bingo games; we need bandwidth …

But when we have been able to talk, we’ve worked out a lot of issues. The time difference (8 ½ hours in Afghanistan) and distance away (a gazillion miles) only compound the usual difficulties that creep up in a relationship. I’m still learning how to be a husband and a dad, and fortunately, everyone has some advice. My “favorite” has been “the first year of marriage is the most difficult,” since Jennifer and I are spending most of ours away from each other …

In the meantime, I’m just trying to stay busy, as it helps the time pass faster. There are lots of good stories about Airmen out here, so I’m just trying to do what I can. And sometimes that means letting the aforementioned 80-pound Doggy of Doom chew on your arm …